Thandie Newton: "My school wouldn't have my photo taken for being 'ghetto'"

Thandie Newton wants the beauty industry to accept all aspects of beauty, as she remembered a sad story about her experiences as a mixed-race woman.



“I remember getting ready for class photos when I was six or seven. My mum braided my hair – for her it was the neatest, prettiest style, the equivalent of having your hair freshly cut and styled. I went to the best school in town, which was run by nuns, and they wouldn’t let me have my photo taken because of my hair. I think they thought it was a bit ‘ghetto’. It was absolutely not ‘ghetto’.



“The next day my mum went into the school. I don’t know what was said, but I had my photo taken.” she recalled.



She tells in an interview: “There were layers and layers of low self-esteem attached to these early experiences.” As a woman of color, she struggled finding make-up and beauty products appropriate for her skin color. She wants the beauty industry to be accepting, and there is work that needs to be done and fulfilled.



“I would like the beauty industry to broaden so that it is no longer intolerant of different ideas of beauty.

“This is my world and my children’s world, and I want my children to be able to go into a shop and be represented.

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